[Speech]: We don’t have to stand here today and beat our chests; the voters will deal with you!

by Cllr. Brandon Pretorius– Chairperson of the Multi-Party Coalition

Date: 31 March 2022

Release: Immediate

Type: Media Statement

Note: The following statement is a speech that was delivered by the former MMC for Environment and Waste Management and Leader of Executive Business and Chairperson of the Multi-Party Coalition in The City of Ekurhuleni, Cllr. Brandon Pretorius, in response to the Motion of no Confidence in the former Executive Mayor, Ald. Tania Campbell, in the Ordinary Council Meeting, held on the 30th of March 2023.

Madam Speaker,

We have gathered in this chamber again, to debate a motion of no confidence in the Executive Mayor, Ald. Tania Campbell.

Does this not feel like a terrible bout of Déjà vu does it not?

In October last year, we debated a motion of a similar nature.

So similar in fact, that this motion is almost a carbon copy of the last one.

And while that motion succeeded in removing the Mayor, two weeks later, she was elected back into office.

The question one should probably ask is, why?

Well, herein lies the true nature and intent of this motion brought by the proxies of the ANC and EFF.

When the Executive Mayor was removed, neither the ANC nor their new red bride (the EFF) or their cronies had reached an agreement that would accommodate their appetites.

They hadn’t figured out yet, how the cake was going to be divided and who would get what.

I am sure that’s because the smallest seven have the biggest bellies to fill, and those in green and gold with a smattering of red don’t have pockets deep enough as they need to also look after their own, and after all, we are going into an election, a cash cow is desperately needed to fund their campaigns.

But be that as it may, be warned, the residents of the city are wise to the antics of those masquerading as servants of the people.

They know, like every honest Councillor in this chamber, that this motion is nothing more than the key which will unlock the city’s coffers to those who have no desire to serve.

The gallery today serves as proof of that notion, as one sees very few community members present, but rather a committee of vultures sitting amongst them, awaiting cadre deployment as they have been ousted and rejected elsewhere.

Madam Speaker,

It would seem that those seated across the aisle from me (the ANC), and those to my immediate red right have selective amnesia.

In the past 14 months, this multi-party coalition has been picking up the mess we inherited from the previous administration. ‘An excuse’ may be something some would utter, but this is indeed a true fact.

In this ridiculous motion, the imagination-less authors cite resignations, administrative and financial commitments of the City, committee attendance, and unavoidable tariff increases as reasons to consider the fitness of the Executive Mayor. Equally so, it cites the City’s cash on hand and debt to Eskom as reasons for the Mayor’s removal. Now I stand to be corrected, but was it not in fact the ANC-led Coalition that burned through R8-billion in cash reserves between 2016 and 2021 to compensate for its weak financial performance, leaving the City on the brink of financial collapse?

Madam Speaker, Allow me to say this…

The same people orchestrating this motion of no confidence against the Executive Mayor are the very same people who had years to demonstrate their capabilities and did. However, after years of incompetence now this new Multiparty Administration is expected to fix what has been broken and looted over the past 10950 days in a mere 511 days in office.

Let me be clear when I say this.

The filth in this City is because of you (the ANC-led Coalition).

The broken infrastructure is because of you (the ANC-led Coalition).

Financial constraints undermining service delivery are because of you (the ANC-led Coalition).

And while we have been steadily rebuilding this City, our progress has been thwarted at every turn and deliberately undermined.

We are under no illusion that through your network of deployed cadres, that doing even the basics in the City has been an uphill battle.

Those in this chamber today, hellbent on the removal of the people’s Mayor and the agents of positive change, be warned that should you succeed, this will be a short-lived victory.

The people who put you here are not blind to your nefarious ways.

There are shoots of tangible change starting to take root in this city.

The promise we made to residents is a promise we intend to keep.

We don’t have to stand here today and beat our chests; the voters will deal with you.

We will never support a motion that seeks to undo the good we are doing for residents.

We will never support a motion that will allow our city to regress.

The DA, Madam Speaker does not support the motion of no confidence tabled by the 7 rent seekers on behalf of their malicious masters.

Thank you,

Cllr. Brandon Pretorius

Chairperson of the Multi-Party Coalition in the City of Ekurhuleni